I’ve been asked to participate in a panel discussion, titled Build Your IT House, at Smart and Simple Strategies for Small Business, an event sponsored by the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Microsoft on June 4th. The day-long event, to be held at the Washington Athletic Club, will features sessions on small business topics, [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in Small Business, Technology, X-BAR News on 8 May 2008 | No Comments »
We’re in the middle of hiring a system and network engineer and I wanted to share a few tips on how to get noticed if you’re considering applying for a position X-BAR.
I don’t know how these compare to what other companies—large or small—look for, but these are the things that we notice, for better and for [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 14 April 2008 | No Comments »
I have long said that we work with some pretty great clients.
Our clients are enthusiastic about their pursuits and have created positive and engaging work environments—both for employees and for partners like us. And they value quality work.
So I was delighted to open the April edition of Seattle Metropolitan magazine to find not one but two [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 24 March 2008 | No Comments »
To keep up with the steady stream of new clients and project, we’ve decided to grow the team. Check out the system and network engineer position we opened earlier this week.
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 14 March 2008 | No Comments »
Last week I mentioned that I had just been named the SBA Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Washington State.
Just after I left work today, I received a voice message letting me know that I had won the Region 10 competition. Region 10 includes Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.
From what I understand, my nomination [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 22 February 2008 | 1 Comment »
I found out late this afternoon that I’ve been named the 2008 Small Business Administration Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Washington State. An award for which I was nominated last December and submitted a rather lengthy candidate package (including a company profile, biography, photo, letters of recommendation, financials, and various other government forms).
Here’s a [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 15 February 2008 | 2 Comments »
Yes, it’s that time of year and “a year in review” can be a bit cliché, but the New Year does provide a convenient scenic lookout from which to gaze back and, more importantly, to dream forward. I know that in the hurry of my day to day work, I don’t always appreciate how all [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 20 January 2008 | No Comments »
Late in 2006 we started laying the groundwork for a complete overhaul of our IT support practice. We had long grown tired of the reactive “break/fix” model that has dominated our industry and which has provided little in the way of long-term value for our clients. Rather than constantly battling IT-related fires, we began looking [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in The Practice of IT Services, X-BAR News on 17 January 2008 | 3 Comments »
We’ve been featured front and center on the Seattle Climate Action Now Campaign website!
Knowing our 15 minutes of fame won’t last, I snapped a picture for posterity:
Posted by Brad Benner in Green, X-BAR News on 27 December 2007 | No Comments »
We recently became a Microsoft Certified Partner and at the same time earned Microsoft’s Network Infrastructure Solution competency. Becoming a certified partner represents an important step in the growth of our IT consulting and support practice and allows us to demonstrate our competence and expertise with Microsoft technologies. The Networking Infrastructure Solutions competency recognizes our [...]
Posted by Brad Benner in X-BAR News on 4 November 2007 | No Comments »